AverageAmericanGuy:It's crazy how they've seemingly got all these great liberal policies but the state is still wracked with crushing poverty.

A lot of Nevada business law is shaped by the Casinos, namely "f%$# the worker". For all you ultra right wing types who believe deregulation is the answer, take a look at Nevada. We've been a deregulated business haven shaped by the "guiding invisible hand" for the last 50+ years, and shocker, we have the worst unemployment in the nation.

Abacus9:No auto emissions tests? Those are EPA regulated, you can't just opt out.

You have to get them in the two most populated counties, Clark (which covers Vegas) and Washoe (which covers Reno). Been that way for as long as I remember. Carson City recently added emissions checks, but only on cars newer than 2006 (or in there). Regardless, I've never had to smog check any vehicle I've owned in this state, ever, because I technically live in the sticks.

AverageAmericanGuy:It's crazy how they've seemingly got all these great liberal policies but the state is still wracked with crushing poverty.

Nevada isn't so much "liberal" as it is libertarian. Liberal economic theories don't advocate a system without income tax (because shifting the burden to sales taxes and such is a boon to the wealthy, but sucks for people who wouldn't have to pay income tax). And Nevada was mostly a western conservative state until the expansion of the Las Vegas and Reno areas... so even if it has started voting more for democrats in the last decade or so, they haven't really had time to reap any benefits of that (if there exist any).

AverageAmericanGuy:It's crazy how they've seemingly got all these great liberal policies but the state is still wracked with crushing poverty.

Methinks Nevada is trying wayyyy too hard to attract more residents. The state looks great on paper, until I realize I would never really want to live there. It's like a job that advertises amazing fringe benefits in large type font, and then the fine print says you'll be mopping jizz for 2 bucks an hour.

I'm waiting for a state to just shrug, say "fark it", and go full state's rights by legalizing internally produced drugs of various kinds for recreational use straight-up.

Not really possible for a big state with economic interests heavily dependent on federal cooperation like California, but smaller states with a mostly-domestic economy like Wyoming have rebelled over stuff like that before.